1. Technical Field
The embodiments herein generally relate to incendiary devices, and more particularly, to compositions of matter for use in an incendiary device.
2. Description of the Related Art
The conventional AN-M14 configuration has a history of cold weather failure. Specifically, during testing the grenades underwent rapid deflagration blowing apart the item. This event poses a significant personnel and equipment hazard. The conventional thermate formulation containing the toxic substance barium nitrate is shown in Table 1. Barium nitrate was used at the time of initial formulation because there was little concern about the toxicity of components in the formulation.
TABLE 1Thermate formulationComponentParts by weight %Aluminum Type II Gr D Cl 516Aluminum Type II Gr C Cl 49Black Iron Oxide44Barium Nitrate29Sulfur2
The conventional ignition formulation in parts by weight for the AN-M14 thermate grenade containing lead is shown in Table 2:
TABLE 2Ignition formulationComponentParts by weight %Titanium Powdered25Red Iron Oxide25Silicon25Red Lead25
The final increment of the conventional formulation is consolidated using a ram with a curved profile. This curved profile of the ram given to the consolidated composition is more efficient at dissipating the heat from an ignition source than one that is made up of sharp edges.